On Friday, Ofcom fined the BBC £150,000 for the Russell Brand and Johnathan Ross phone ‘scandal’:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7694989.stm
I find it astounding that we are all still talking about it, and in some cases, are still as outraged by it. The (pre-recorded!) show was broadcast on 18th October, 5 months ago. Ofcom wrote a report on the scandal, stating that:
“The number of complaints rose significantly after extensive media”.
There have been several reports that many of the complaints were from people who hadn’t even listened to the show. This just goes to show how controlled we are by the media as a society. Radio hosts and tabloid newspapers seem to have an increasing power over what we do or say. For example, Chris Moyles is known for having a huge audience for his breakfast show, and has in the past used his powers to influence the charts. After he successfully campaigned for downloaded songs to affect the charts, he then asked listeners to download Billie Piper’s ‘Honey to the Bee’ to see if he could influence the charts; it reached number 17. Similarly, papers have used their influence to change legal and political movements amongst other things. For example, in 2004, the Sun ran a successful poll that Maxine Carr should serve her full sentence in jail for lying to the police about Ian Huntley’s role in the murder of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.
Relating to my post about the film ‘V for Vendetta’, it feels like we are getting rapidly closer to the media gaining total control of our actions and choices. Where will it end? The Russell Brand Scandal was, admittedly, disrespectful. But it wasn’t the ‘disgrace’ that a lot of ‘outraged’ members of society would like to believe. The fact of the matter is that when you listen to Russell Brand, you should be expecting him to push the boundaries. The fact that the show was pre-recorded also speaks for itself. We are more focused on slating the presenters, that it was almost over-looked (by the media frenzy at least) that both the head of compliance, David Barber, and Radio 2 controller Lesley Douglas gave the thumbs up for the programme to be aired.
I think that looking at the wider cultural context, we as a nation are obsessed with the rise and fall stories of celebrities, and the ability to create change by unity, that the media have tapped into it and are able to control what it is we campaign for and against.
